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Food Security: AfDB Group President assures Nigeria of Strong Support

Food Security: AfDB Group President assures Nigeria of Strong Support
The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, received a high-level Nigerian delegation led by the Nigeria Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar on Monday 18th October 2021.
The meeting follows on the heels of an address by Dr. Adesina last week at a mid-term ministerial retreat presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Dr. Adesina and the Nigerian minister discussed means of tackling growing concerns about the country’s food security.
Adesina said the Bank’s strategic support for Nigeria’s food production would be hinged on five factors: support, scale, systemic, speed, and sustainability.
He added, “I want to assure President Buhari that the African Development Bank will provide his government with very strong support to tackle the country’s food security challenges.”
“Inflation in Nigeria is high, at 16% or more. Of course, the biggest share of the consumer price index is the price of food, at almost 65%. So, if we can drive down the price of food, of course, we can drive down inflation.“
Adesina urged the Nigerian minister to concentrate on building the correct team and tactics to optimize the country’s farming seasons. He said that dramatically increased food output will result in lower food prices, which will in turn lower inflation rates.
Abubakar said his consultative mission to Abidjan was at the instruction of President Buhari.
“Our mission is to examine ways Nigeria could enhance food production, lower food prices, and create wealth,” the minister said.
Abubakar welcomed the Bank’s proposed strategy and described it as a landmark one that would spur Nigeria’s food supply production. “It will reverse the ugly trend of a sharp increase in prices of food in the country. I am pleased with the Bank’s strategy to facilitate the production of 9 million metric tons of food in Nigeria and to support us in raising self-sufficiency. The Bank’s Special Agro-Processing Zones initiative is a laudable one and Nigeria is grateful.”
Citing successes in Sudan, Adesina explained how the African Development Bank had supported the country with 65,000 metric tonnes of heat-tolerant wheat varieties, cultivated on 317,000 hectares.
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“It took two seasons to do this,” he said. “Change will not happen in years. You will see changes in seasons. Sudan now produces 1.1 million metric tons of wheat. The same thing happened in Ethiopia in just two seasons with the production of 184, 000 hectares of wheat,“ he added.
In response to Bank successes in Sudan and Ethiopia, Abubakar said: “This gives me an additional measure of confidence. If you can do it in Sudan, you can equally do it in Nigeria. Not just in wheat, but also rice, maize, and soybeans.”
The African Development Bank will provide Nigeria with support through input delivery, including highly improved seeds and fertilizers to farmers, and an integrated input delivery platform.
Extensively discussed at the meeting was the Bank’s Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone initiative as an effective medium-term plan for revolutionizing Nigeria’s agriculture value chain.
Adesina said: “The task, responsibility, and challenge of feeding Nigeria rests on your shoulders. You will receive maximum support from me, and the African Development Bank for the responsibility that President Buhari has given you. You will not be alone.”
He added: “The Bank stands ready to fully support and help Nigeria in the next farming seasons. So, we must make sure things turn around. The president must succeed, and Nigeria must succeed. Agriculture must succeed.”
Abubakar thanked the African Development Bank for its support and said the meeting gave him reassurances of what Nigeria can achieve with the Bank’s support in the farming seasons ahead.
The minister also called for the Bank’s support to recapitalize the country’s Bank of Agriculture.
Both parties set up a task force team to develop a plan for accelerated implementation within the next 60 days.
Also at the meeting were a member of Nigeria’s National Assembly, Hon. Munir Baba Dan Agundi, Chair of the House Committee on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions; the African Development Bank’s executive director for Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Dr. Oyebode Oyetunde; Vice President of Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Beth Dunford; Senior Special Advisor to the President of the Bank on Industrialization, Professor Oyebanji Oyelaran; Director-General of the Bank’s Nigeria Country Office in Abuja, Lamin Barrow; the Bank’s Director of Agriculture and Agro-Industries, Martin Fregene; the Director for Agricultural Finance and Rural Development, Atsuko Toda; and senior officials from Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
Food Security: AfDB Group President assures Nigeria of Strong Support
National News
VP Shettima Mourns Late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Says Nigeria Has Lost An Irreplaceable Institution

VP Shettima Mourns Late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Says Nigeria Has Lost An Irreplaceable Institution
By: Michael Mike
Vice President Kashim Shettima has expressed deep grief over the passing of prominent Nigerian businessman and philanthropist, Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata, saying the nation has lost an irreplaceable institution.
The late Dantata, an uncle of Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, passed away at the age of 94 in Abu Dhabi in the early hours of Saturday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Mustapha Abdullahi Junaid, his Personal Private Secretary (PPS), who confirmed the death.
In a condolence message, Vice President Shettima praised the late businessman for his lifetime of service, describing him as “a living bridge that connected us to our past.
“We have not just lost a leader; we have lost an irreplaceable institution,” Senator Shettima said, describing Dantata as “one of the greatest titans in Nigeria’s philosophical history” whose departure marks the end of a vital chapter in the country’s economic and democratic evolution.
“In African tradition, when such an elderly person transitions, a vital chapter of our history departs with them. He was indeed among the great titans, a living bridge that connected us to our past,” VP Shettima added.
The Vice President extended heartfelt condolences to the Dantata family, expressing hopes that they would “find the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss,” even as he prayed that Almighty Allah would grant the deceased Jannatul Firdaus.
Born into the legendary Dantata family of Kano, Alhaji Aminu built on his father’s commercial legacy to become one of Nigeria’s most influential business figures. His empire spans construction, manufacturing, banking, agriculture, and the oil and gas sectors.
Beyond business, Dantata was renowned for his extensive philanthropic work, funding schools, mosques, health centres, and supporting widows and the underprivileged across Nigeria.
VP Shettima Mourns Late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Says Nigeria Has Lost An Irreplaceable Institution
National News
Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meet in Abuja to Prepare for Upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting

Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meet in Abuja to Prepare for Upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting
By: Michael Mike
The Senior Officials Meeting between Nigeria and the European Union (EU) will be held on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd July 2025 in Abuja to prepare for the upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting and to explore areas of cooperation.
A statement on Saturday by the Press Officer, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Modestus Chukwulaka, read: “The Delegation of European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS wishes to inform that the Senior Officials Meeting between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the European Union (EU) will be held on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd July 2025 in Abuja.
“The agenda of the very important meeting is to prepare for the upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting and to explore areas of cooperation.”
According to the statement, the Senior Officials Meeting will be co-chaired by the Regions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria, Ambassador Janet Olisa, Director, and the Deputy Managing Director for Africa Department, European External Action Service, European Union, Mr Mathieu Briens.
The statement revealed that the agenda of the meeting is expected to entail wide-ranging discussions that would focus on various aspects of the Nigeria – EU partnership, such as: Cooperation on multilateral and regional issues; Peace, Security and Governance; Humanitarian situation; Trade and Investment; Human Development: Health, Education, Social Protection; Science, technology, innovation and digital transition; Migration; Energy, climate change and green economy transition among others.
Nigeria and the European Union share a deep, long-standing partnership inspired by mutual values and interests as well as support for multilateralism and rule-based international order, the statement said.
Nigeria-EU Senior Officials Meet in Abuja to Prepare for Upcoming Nigeria – EU Ministerial Meeting
National News
Farida Waziri Tasks Benue Leaders to Unite, Act and Save Their People

Farida Waziri Tasks Benue Leaders to Unite, Act and Save Their People
…. Donates relief materials to displaced persons in Yelwata, IDP camp
By: Michael Mike
Former Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri has charged former governors, legislators, traditional rulers and other stakeholders in Benue state to set aside rivalry, unite and act with urgency to save their people from incessant attacks and killings.
Waziri, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police and Principal Partner, Brookfield Chambers Abuja stated this on Saturday 28th June 2025 while donating relief materials to victims of the recent gunmen attacks in Yelwata community and displaced persons at the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.
Some of the items donated under the banner of Women, Youth, Children and Crime Organisation (WYCCO), a non-governmental organization founded by her, include: bags of rice, sugar, tubers of yam and other household items.

She said: “This is no time for division. It is no time for political squabbling or ego-driven manoeuvring. Among us are men and women who have led this state — former governors, legislators, traditional rulers — individuals with influence and authority. The time has come to set aside our differences and stand united, for the sake of the ordinary Benue man, woman, and child.
“That is why I stand here today to make this urgent and heartfelt appeal to our leaders: cast aside rivalry, unite, and act. Act with urgency. Act with purpose. Because what we face now increasingly resembles a deliberate, coordinated effort to erase our people and our heritage.
“We must take heed of the words of Sir Winston Churchill, who once said:
‘Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them.’
Another of Churchill’s warnings is just as relevant to our present predicament:
‘If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed… you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.”
Waziri, while stating that her call was a build up to the earlier proposal by President Bola Tinubu during his recent visit Beforehand Benue, noted that meetings alone would not solve the problem, urging that: “But let us be sincere: peace will not come from meetings alone. To end the cycle of violence, we must confront its roots. Before the Yelwata massacre, communities in Gwer West, Apa, and Guma had already endured weeks of killings, kidnappings, and raids. These horrors did not emerge in a vacuum; they are symptoms of deeper issues.
“We must therefore confront the real causes — ethnic and religious tensions, unchecked banditry, and the rise of cultism as well as the abuse of illicit drugs. These forces must be tackled, along with the herder-farmer conflict, with honesty and courage. We cannot afford to keep going in circles. And there is no room for blame games. Our leaders — and indeed, all of us — must be pragmatic. So today, let us commit, as one people, to healing our wounds, reclaiming our land, and ensuring that never again will a child in Benue grow up in a camp instead of a home”
She said the development in Benue must be of “concern to all sons and daughters of Benue regardless of whether we live within its borders or far away in the diaspora to find out the root cause of these attacks with a view to proferring solutions that will bring an end to these barbaric acts”
Farida Waziri Tasks Benue Leaders to Unite, Act and Save Their People
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